The present invention concerns an electric toothbrush comprising a handle and a head, characterised in that the head has a rubbery cleaning element.
Electric toothbrushes are well known in the art and typically comprise a motor element housed within the brush handle and a head, which is usually replaceable.
Most electric brushes effect cleaning by rapidly moving the brush head (hereinafter known as oscillating brushes) but some merely vibrate (hereinafter known as vibrating brushes).
There is a multitude of oscillating brushes on the market and some have particular oscillating patterns, e.g. longitudinally oscillating elements, or they may have multiple brush heads, such as the one marketed by Phillips under the tradename xe2x80x98Plaque Remover (copyright)xe2x80x99, which comprises a rotating head and a laterally oscillating array of bristles distal to the brush handle.
An example of a vibrating brush is sold by JandJ under the tradename xe2x80x98Powerbrush(copyright)xe2x80x99.
Manual brushes with rubbery bristles are well-known in the prior art and may provide a polishing, cleaning or gum managing benefit. For example, WO 98/22000 (Asher) discloses a brush comprising at least one plaque removing member which is surrounded by a plurality of bristles.
In our co-pending application GB 9912923.1 we describe a brush comprising a housing for a motor and a brush head which is flexible.
We have found that the benefits provided by a brush head comprising a rubbery cleaning element can be greatly enhanced if provided on an electric toothbrush.
An object of the present invention is to provide a cheap electric toothbrush, which provides an improved cleaning benefit.
We have found that an electric toothbrush can provide an improvement upon the prior art when the brush head comprises rubbery cleaning elements.